Tight Pants
by Mintacia
Summary: Nico di Angelo's not sure why Lou Ellen and Cecil are laughing so hard. What's so hilarious about an Aphrodite camper trying to charm Will Solace? Nico doesn't find it funny at all. In fact, the whole situation makes him feel kind of bitter. Luckily, Will Solace isn't very interested in Aphrodite girls, love magic or not. / Post-BoO, Solangelo. /
1. Nico Watches Horse Poop Be Shoveled

The tennis ball nearly smacked Nico in the head. It was only at the last moment that he saw it; the tennis ball seemed to suddenly fizzle into existence about four feet from his face. Hissing in surprise, Nico managed to side step the projectile at the last moment.

"Aww." Lou Ellen huffed with disappointment. "I almost had you that time."

"That was good." Nico agreed with a small nod. "If you hadn't thrown it straight at my face, I don't think I would have noticed."

The daughter of Hecate tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Okay. Let's try again!"

A few years ago, this would have been a strange sight: the son of Hades, helping another camper practice her magic? Ridiculous! However, ever since the battle against Gaea, Nico had strove to be more involved. Sometimes, that meant helping his friends practice important battle skills. Incidentally, Nico had gained many new friends around camp in the year since the battle. This included two of Will Solace's best friends: Lou Ellen of Hecate cabin and Cecil of Hermes cabin.

The classroom began to flicker a bit around Nico, like air on a really hot day. Lou Ellen ducked behind one of the few desks that they hadn't pushed to the corners of the room.

However, before Lou Ellen could begin, the door to the classroom slammed open. Cecil came barreling into the room, breathing hard. "Guys!" He shouted in between his gasps. "Funniest – _huff_ – thing – _huff_ – ever!" Cecil started frantically waving his arm like a blade of a windmill. "You've got to – _huff_ – come now!"

Lou Ellen popped out from behind the desk, a grin of curiosity on her face. "What's going on?"

"I don't have time to tell you! Come on!" With that, Cecil turned on heel and darted out of the classroom. Lou Ellen gave Nico a questioning glance, who shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

The two of them ran after Cecil, out of the classroom, and then out of the Big House. Cecil didn't slow down until he reached the stables. Once Nico and Lou Ellen caught up with him, he placed a finger on his lips and hushed them with a _shh_ before they could get out any questions.

"They're just right inside." He whispered to them.

"Who?" Nico asked, a little apprehensive. The children of Hermes had a reputation around camp for their pranks, and Cecil wasn't excluded from that.

"Will and Lacy." Cecil replied, grinning deviously.

"Huh?" Lou Ellen asked. "Lacy from the Aphrodite cabin?" Cecil nodded with excitement.

Lacy, daughter of Aphrodite. The only reason Nico really knew of her was because Lacy was a good friend of Piper's. That being said, he had never really spoke to her much. While some of the campers had become very relaxed around the ominous son of death, others – like Lacy – still had trouble feeling comfortable around him. Not that she'd ever told him such; Nico had gotten pretty good at reading people. He could tell when he was welcome and when he wasn't.

The window nearest to the three demigods was one of the few without the head of a horse sticking out it. Nico leaned towards it and peeked into the stables. Sure enough, both Will and Lacy were on stable duty, scraping manure off the ground. It was kind of funny to Nico how Will, despite being covered with dirt, could still look good.

"You've brought us here to watch them clean horse crap?" Nico asked incredulously.

Cecil looked offended. "No, I brought you here to watch Lacy try to hit on Will."

"What!?" Lou Ellen exclaimed with amusement, her eyes wide. Meanwhile, Nico felt like throwing up.

Recently, Nico had been harboring a crush for handsome blond. There was something in the way that Will smiled at him that made Nico's days brighter. Ever since the battle a year ago, Will Solace had gone out of his way to include (and occasionally force) the solitary son of Hades in various events around camp. In fact, just a few days ago, Will had told Nico that he was not allowed to miss the upcoming fireworks show.

"_Shh!_" Cecil hissed at Lou Ellen's outburst, before nervously glancing into the stable. Inside, Lacy and Will were still working, oblivious to the trio outside.

"Sorry." Whispered Lou Ellen. She leaned towards Cecil conspiratorially. "Lacy is trying to hit on _Will?_" Lou Ellen strongly emphasized Will's name when she said it, as if the idea of a girl hitting on the handsome son of Apollo was strange. This was strange to Nico, as he definitely couldn't blame any girl for being interested in Will Solace.

"Yea," Cecil whispered back, "I was working back here on some new – uh – _rigging_ for the stables. That, you know, Chiron totally asked me to do." (Nico strongly doubted that Chiron had requested any thing of the sort.) "Anyways, I was working when suddenly I felt really good. Like, the world is beautiful and stuff."

The other two demigods stared at him in confusion.

"It's an Aphrodite thing." Cecil explained with a shrug. "So, I stop working and look into the stables, and I see the most beautiful girl I've ever seen!"

Lou Ellen rolled her eyes and let out a small _huff_.

"And then I realize it's just Lacy. She's just got her Aphrodite charm up to, like, max. Which is why I could feel it even though it wasn't directed at me."

"So wait," Lou Ellen asked, frowning curiously, "She's trying to use her Aphrodite charm to woo Will?"

A large, dorky grin was plastered on Cecil's face. "She may not be the brightest, but she is persistent." Okay, now Nico was confused. Why was it weird for a pretty Aphrodite girl to pursue Will?

Before Nico could ask, Cecil nodded his head to the window. Giggling, he and Lou Ellen crowded at opening and peaked their heads over. Nico sighed in frustration, before joining them in their spying. Around them, the air shimmered as Lou Ellen laid some mist on them.

Inside the stables, Lacy and Will were talking as they worked. There was strong magic radiating off Lacy, just like Cecil said, but it didn't really effect Nico. Despite Lacy's love magic, Will Solace was still the more attractive of the two by leaps and bounds, as far as Nico was concerned.

Right when the trio gathered at the window, Will had been in the middle of speaking. While Nico didn't catch what Will said, he did hear Lacy's high pitched laughter and her comment, "Wow Will, you're so funny!"

Will looked a little confused, but he still smiled at the compliment. "Thanks, I guess. But no joke, my dad really used to wake us up every morning so that we could watch his glorious ascent into the sky. I kind of miss it." Even after all these months, no one knew what the gods had decided as punishment for the sun god Apollo. As a demigod who visited his father somewhat regularly, Nico felt sympathy for the Apollo cabin kids. It had to be hard to not know what the fate of their father was.

Lacy paused her shoveling so that she could pull off her gloves and run a hand through her perfect blonde hair. "Yea, it sucks what happened and stuff." A perfect, sorrowful frown adorned her make-up-ed face.

The feces made a disgusting _plop_ as it slid off Will's shovel and landed into the trash cart. For a moment, Will's smile flickered like it might be a trick of the mist. But, it was only for a moment. Before Nico could really wonder about it, Will was smiling big again. "Oh well, life goes on." Will puffed optimistically.

Lacy dropped her shovel, which landing loudly on the cement. Will hesitated in his shoveling to glance sideways at her. That's when she began to walk towards him. Every step she took, as she approached him, was perfectly graceful. There was a subtle swish to her hips and her pretty blond hair swayed beautifully with each step.

Nico couldn't help but feel strangely jealous. Here was a girl who had everything as far as looks were concerned, and she had her target set on his crush.

To his right, Cecil let out a soft, "Ouch!" Blinking in surprise, Nico turned to find Cecil rubbing his shoulder. "What'd you do that for, woman?" Cecil whispered fiercely, glaring at Lou Ellen.

"Well, you looked like you needed to be punched." Huffed Lou Ellen defensively, her cheeks pink. "Also... you were drooling like she's some sort of piece of meat." The two began to bicker quietly among themselves, much to Nico's annoyance.

Distracted by Cecil and Lou Ellen's back-and-forth, Nico missed some of what happened in the stables. When Nico looked back through the window, Lacy had a comforting hand on Will's shoulder. He had stopped shoveling.

"- and, like, you can always come to me if you want to talk or something." Lacy was saying, as she twirled a finger in her hair.

"That's nice of you." Replied Will, still smiling his brilliant smile. _Or you could always come talk to me._ Thought Nico bitterly.

"Anything for you, Will." Lacy said sweetly, batting her eyelashes.

"Okay." Will laughed, before lifting his shovel and starting to work again. However, Lacy didn't go back to her work. She stood next to Will, love magic peeling off her in thick layers. _That's a lot of magic._ Nico thought in surprise, his eye brows shooting up. How on earth was Will resisting her?

Lou Ellen had returned to watching with Nico, but Cecil was now sitting on the ground between them, looking grumpy. "I can handle a little Aphrodite magic." Cecil huffed to himself, but he didn't stand back up.

After a couple of long seconds, Lacy cleared her throat. "Hey, Will."

Once again pausing in his work, Will replied with a confused, "Yes, Lacy?"

She giggled nervously, before launching into a small speech. "So like, I think we get along really well. You're a really great guy and I would really like a chance to get to know you better. So I was thinking that that we could, uh, totally go to on a date to like a Starbucks or something out in the town and get some coffee and talk or something."

Nico's heart sank. Yea, he knew this sort of thing was going to happen sooner or later. Just like how Percy found Annabeth, Will Solace would eventually find some pretty girl to love. Suddenly, Nico didn't want to watch any more.

All he wanted to do was curl in his bed and hid under the sheets.

Contrastingly, Lou Ellen started to snicker like crazy. Cecil, from where he was sitting on the ground with his ear pressed to the stable wall, also began to snort-laugh so strongly that he rolled onto his side. If Nico hadn't been so distracted by his two friends laughing so vigorously, he would have turned and left. It was a good thing he didn't, though.

From inside the stables, there was a long pause. "Um. Lacy, you're a great girl, but, uh..." Will sounded very awkward when he spoke. "I'm gay."

Nico had experienced a lot of great moments during his short life. Defeating Kronos? Fantastic. Stopping a war between the Romans and the Greeks? Splendid. Destroying Gaea? Lovely. Each of those events had given him a strong sense of relief and even joy. This moment was surprisingly similar to those. The only main difference was the heat the rushed through him, reddening his cheeks as his jaw dropped open.

"He's gay?" Nico mumbled in shock, his eyes unfocused.

"Um, obviously?" Lou Ellen snorted in between her giggles. When the blushing Nico couldn't find the words to reply to her, she stopped laughing and became sober. "Wait. You seriously didn't know?" Even Cecil stopped laughing and peered up at Nico in confusion.

"Uhh. No?" Nico didn't like the way the two other demigods were looking at him, as if he had suddenly grew a second head. If Lacy with her love magic had made that mistake, why was it so crazy that he didn't know? It's not like gaydar was an actual thing, after all. Nico was just a human with human perception.

Lou Ellen and Cecil shared a cryptic look. "But..." Lou Ellen spoke delicately, her brow furrowed, "Aren't you gay too?"

The self proclaimed Ghost King just about died. "How do y-you -" He began to splutter, embarrassed. There were only three demigods who he had told about his sexuality, and two of them had already left the camp early this year to begin preparing for college. "- uh... I mean, what... um." '_What gave it away?_' was just too embarrassing for Nico to say.

Luckily, the two demigods understood. "Well, no offense, but you stare at Will. A lot." Cecil said, matter-of-factly.

_Oh gods._ Nico thought as he buried his face in his hands, absolutely horrified.

"Also, straight guys don't wear pants that tight." Lou Ellen added helpfully as she waved towards Nico's skinny black jeans. "But don't worry!" She added quickly, "I know for a fact that Will really likes them." If Nico could melt from embarrassment, he would have been a puddle on the ground.

While he couldn't melt, Nico could shadow-travel. Which was exactly what he was considering, as both Lou Ellen and Cecil grinned at him. Nico hadn't shadow-traveled in several months; the last time he tried, about three months after the battle with Gaea, he had landed himself in the infirmary for a week. Still, a long time had passed since then... he was probably fine to shadow-travel now.

"Dude, Will's been pretty obviously flirting with you for awhile now-" Before Cecil could finish the rest of his giddy comment, another voice spoke over him.

"Cecil!" Will Solace was standing at the stable window, looking particularly annoyed. Lou Ellen had dropped her control of the mist - not that it really would have helped, with how loud the three of them were. _How much did Will hear?_ Nico wondered in complete shock.

"Oh. Uh. Um." Cecil's mouth hung open, as if he wanted to say more, but didn't know what to say. Will's face was bright red. Whether it was with anger or embarrassment, Nico wasn't sure.

Nico didn't hang around to figure out. Feeling cornered, the flustered demigod did what came naturally: he shadow-traveled. Before anyone could stop him, he leaned towards the shadows of the stable and let the tendrils of darkness embrace him. As he vanished, he heard Will shout, "Dammit Nico -!" But Nico slipped away before he could hear the rest.


	2. Nico Cracks Laminate Flooring

Before he blacked out, Nico di Angelo found himself staring at Thalia's tree. The only problem was that he was staring _down _at Thalia's tree from about, oh, thirty feet? Unlike what happened back in Albania with the statue, Coach Hedge, and Reyna, Nico didn't have a long time to react to this fall.

In the approximately 1.36 seconds that he fell, the son of Hades was able to realize two things. One: that there was a heavy cloud above him and the tree, casting down the unexpected shadows he had emerged from. Two: that he should definitely shadow-travel again _right now__._However, by the time the second realization fully kicked in, he hit the tree's branches.

The next thing he remembered was the vague noise of people talking all around him. There was a part of him that strained to recognize the voices: Will's? Lou Ellen's? Jason's? But there was also a lot of strange voices. The very last sound that he remembered before he passed out again was the creaking of gurney wheels.

The second time he came to, it was mostly quiet around him. There was only a few voices talking softly nearby. Nico peeled his eyes open and squinted at his surroundings.

He was... in the infirmary? It was hard to tell, as everything looked a strange sort of fuzzy. It made Nico feel dizzy, so he shut his eyes again. He was confused for a long moment as to why he was in the infirmary. Then Thalia's tree flashed through Nico's mind, and he felt the phantom pain from when he busted into the branches. _Damn,_Nico thought sluggishly, _I screwed up._

Wiggling his fingers, Nico tried to tell if he had lost some of himself to the darkness, like last time. It didn't feel like he was fad, but he wasn't quite sure. In fact, he couldn't really tell how badly he had injured himself. He felt... delirious? Maybe they'd put him on some sort of painkiller. That would explain why he felt so dizzy and sleepy.

Nico managed to tune into the voices and caught half of what a guy's voice was saying: "- noticed that you skipped breakfast, so we brought you a bowl of your favorite cereal."

"Thanks guys." A second guy's voice; he sounded weary.

"Of course." A girl's voice spoke this time. "Also, we wanted to apologize."

"Yea," The first guy's voice again, "we were totally dicks."

"Well -" The second guy started to speak again, but he was cut off by the girl.

"We are really sorry!"

"Really, really sorry." The first guy's voice added beseechingly.

The weary voice began to laugh. The laugh was awfully familiar... Nico felt like he should be able to recognize it easily, but right now he was having a hard enough time focusing on what was said. "It's alright guys, calm down! You didn't know that he'd shadow-travel himself into a tree."

Shadow-traveled into a tree? _Hmm, that must be me, _Nico thought after a moment of though, he hadn't shadow-traveled _into_the tree. Rather, he shadow traveled to _above_the tree. As much as Nico wanted to complain about the technicalities between the two, fatigue was pulling at the edges of his conscience.

Nico drifted into a dreamless sleep.

The third time that Nico came to, he felt much better. While he felt undeniably tired, he didn't feel anywhere near as delirious like he had before. This time, he could understand the voices around him easily.

"Poor thing." That was Piper's voice, to his right. The pillow behind Nico's head began to move, as if someone was trying to straighten it for him. He scowled a little at the sudden jostling.

"I think he's awake." _Jason? _Nico peeked just slightly through slitted eyes. The son of Zeus was standing on the left side of Nico's hospital bed.

"I doubt it. Will said he gave him enough painkillers to put down a grizzly bear." Said Piper.

A finger pressed into Nico's face. Before Piper could finish saying, "Jason, don't poke him!" Nico slapped Jason's hand away. Almost immediately, pain shot through Nico's arm. Groaning, he hugged his right arm to his chest. That's when he realized it was wrapped with gauze and stints.

_Is my arm broken?_ Nico wondered with surprise.

Nico finally opened his eyes fully and found the two demigods staring down at him.

"Told you." Jason told Piper.

She frowned at Jason, before turning a smiling face to Nico. "Good morning, sleepy." Piper sounded motherly, "How do you feel?"

"Um..." Nico's entire body ached and he felt as tired as he had when he'd been shadow-traveling a statue across half the world. "Bad." His voice was scratchy when he spoke. Nico wondered how long he'd been out. A quick glance down at his arms shocked him; he was practically a mummy with the amount of gauze that was wrapped around both of his arms.

"Well, you did fall a couple of stories into a tree." Jason spoke casually, as if demigods getting injured in weird ways was completely normal (which it was). "By the way, my sister is kinda pissed about her tree."

"Your sister can bite me." Nico rasped in annoyance. He was in no mood for stupid complaints. It's not like he had wanted plummet into the tree.

"The important thing is that you're okay, Nico. " Piper interrupted before Jason could say more, shooting her boyfriend a disapproving glance.

"Okay?" Nico echoed dubiously, glancing down again at his injuries. That's when a pink object on his hand caught his attention. _Is this... a Hello Kitty band-aid!? _The son of Hades scrunched up his face in disgust, before ripping the band-aid off with his teeth. There wasn't even a scratch under the band-aid. "What exactly... happened?" He inquired, after spitting out the Hello Kitty band-aid.

"Aw, I liked that band-aid." Jason whined with a grin. Nico wasn't sure why Jason was so... cheerful. It made Nico anxious.

It was Piper that answered. "Well... you shadow-traveled to above Thalia's tree... and then fell into it." Nico nodded; he remembered that part. "And uh, lemme think. You didn't turn into darkness like last time, but you did break both arms, your right leg, some ribs, and busted up some organs... did I miss anything, Jason?"

"Concussion?" Jason suggested.

"Oh yea. You've got that too."

"Lovely." Nico sighed raggedly, before grabbing the thick white hospital blanket that was tucked securely around his lower half and yanking it up to his chin. Thankfully, healing was no big deal to demigods, what with the magical properties of ambrosia.

"So..." Piper inquired innocently, "Did something happen?"

Nico quickly lied, "No. I just made a miscalculation when I shadow-traveled."

"Oh, okay." She said. She sounded like she believed him.

Internally, Nico sighed with relief.

"Oh, hey, by the waaay..." Jason playfully drawled his words out as he spoke. He then leaned backwards and glanced around the curtain that separated Nico's bed from the rest of the infirmary. When he leaned back towards Nico, he whispered giddily, "I think a certain blond Apollo guy likes you." His arched eyebrows bobbed up and down a few times suggestively.

"What! T-that's ridiculous, I don't know who you're talking about!" Nico immediately snapped back, as he blushed fiercely. Of course, he knew which son of Apollo that Jason was referring to.

How was the fact that Will was gay obvious to everyone but him?

Jason stared suspiciously at Nico for a moment with a ghost of a smile on his face, before making an accusation, "... you know exactly which one I'm talking about, don't you?" On the other side of the bed, Piper hid sly smile behind her hand.

Nico was embarrassed, which made him feel furious. "Don't forget I can open the underworld right under your feet and drag youdown into it!" The son of Hades snarled at Jason, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Okay, let's all calm down." Piper spoke quickly, her words soothing. As she spoke, Nico felt his anger bleed away involuntarily. In it's place, he found an overwhelming sense of calmness. His frown still didn't vanish though, even with Piper's powerful Charmspeak.

Normally, Piper's Charmspeak didn't affect Nico very much, considering it typically had the strongest influence on those who had an attraction to the speaker. However, with the painkillers still in his system, the effect was compounded.

Jason, on the other hand, was now grinning. "Oh man, wait until I tell Percy!"

Piper's calming Charmspeak couldn't prevent Nico from sitting up and screaming, "I WILL DESTROY YOU, JASON GRACE!" The ground started to rumble underneath the infirmary. Bottles clinked within cabinets, and other injured demigods in the infirmary, hidden behind their own curtains, let out yelps.

Jason wasn't fazed at all; in fact, he was still grinning like a fox as he turned and darted out of the infirmary.

"Wow there, tiger, let's calm down!" Piper was putting everything into her Charmspeak. It felt thick and warm, embracing Nico in a blanket of tranquility. His rage was still bubbling, but it was quickly dying like a suffocated fire. The ground stopped rumbling. "Relax, breathe. You really should sleep._ Sleeeep._"

Sleep did sound awfully good. Nico was forgetting what he was upset about. Something about Jason? Maybe he'd worry about it later.

Right as Nico was laying back down, an extremely flustered healer appeared at the opening of the curtain.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Will shouted, his eyes wide. Seeing Will Solace, in his usual jeans and green surgeon's shirt, started to override Nico's new calm. Panic blossomed within Nico. As ridiculous as it was, he found himself considering shadow-travel again. _Second time's the charm, right?_

But before he could find a way to recklessly throw himself into the shadow world, Piper was speaking again, her voice still thick with Charmspeak. "Nico was a bit upset, but he's okay now. He's about to go to bed. You're sleepy, right Nico?" Nico felt like a silly child, being coddled to sleep by Piper's vocal tricks... but he simply couldn't fight it.

"Yea." He murmured, his worries washing out of his mind once again.

"I'm really surprised he's awake." Will said, scratching his head. The healer's cheeks were a bit pink.

"Yea, that's... our fault." Piper said in a normal voice. Nico didn't need any more Charmspeak, though. He was already half gone, his mind fuzzy.

The bed creaked as Will sat on the side where Jason had been standing earlier. Nico felt Will's warm hands on his arm. "152 over 90, 116 BPM." The healer mumbled to himself, "That's high."

"Well, he did almost drag Jason down into the underworld." Piper added.

"Uh, what?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. My boyfriend brought it on himself."

Half-asleep Nico was barely paying attention to what they were saying. Rather, he was focusing on Will's striking face. He raised a bandaged hand and placed it on Will's warm cheek. Will, surprised, looked down curiously at Nico.

"You're too cute." Nico murmured woozily, before he gave into sleep.

"Hey Nico... Nico... Nico!... Wake up Nico!" The fourth time Nico woke up in the infirmary, he found a pair of amused, sea green eyes a few inches away from his own.

_Percy!?_

Nico panicked and rolled off the gurney bed, taking the blanket with him.

"Oh! Shit, sorry." Percy said as he jogged over to the other side of the gurney and crouched down next to Nico. He reached out and touched Nico's arm, offering help. "I didn't mean to scare you."

As much as Nico was over Percy, he still wasn't comfortable having his old crush touch him. Nico batted Percy's hands away with a fierce scowl. "I'm fine." He snapped, feeling thoroughly flustered.

Without help from Percy, Nico pushed himself back to his feet; a wave of dizziness hit him, but he managed to ignore it long enough for him to plop his butt back onto the bed. His entire right shoulder was now chock full of pain from the fall. _I'll have to get some more ambrosia, _Nico thought with a sigh. He wasn't about to tell Percy that, though. Nico preferred to be self sufficient.

Percy was hovering a few feet away, looking strangely delighted. His excitement reminded Nico of Jason's excitement the day before (or a few hours before? Nico really hadn't a clue how long he'd slept for). _I have a bad feeling about this, _thought Nico.

"So... I heard you cannon balled into a tree." Percy said, sounding more giddy then concerned.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for college or something?" Nico growled back. It was strange to see Percy, as both him and Annabeth had left Camp Half Blood almost two months ago to go spend the rest of summer with their parents and to prepare for college in New Rome.

"We came back when we heard you were hurt."

"Oh." Nico said, taken back. As much as he hated to admit it, Nico was touched that they would travel all the way back to check on him. Typically, the solitary son of Hades strove to independent... yet, it was nice now and then to know that his friends cared, even if he was dedicated to not needing them. Nico wasn't very good at expressing gratitude, but he tried. "That's... nice. You didn't have to."

Percy smiled big, "Of course we did. You're like a little brother to me, Nico." Nico rolled his eyes, but a small small smile tugged up at the corners of his lips. Once upon a time ago, that statement would have really frustrated him, but now he found it... nice. Percy wouldn't be a half bad brother to have.

"Whatever." He replied casually, choosing to keep his sappiness to himself. "Where's Annabeth then?" Percy's better half was missing.

"Oh, talking with some of the other Athena kids. I took it as a chance to come over here and talk to you about, uh... man things."

_Oh no. _Nico groaned as apprehension hit him. _Gods damn it, Jason... you bastard! _

"So... what's this I hear about you and Will Solace?"

Nico couldn't find the energy to get angry. He felt like he had lost a battle. For months, he had expended extra care into being as subtle as possible about his growing infatuation with Will... and now the cat was out of the bag. Not only that, but the damned cat was in the hands of the two of the most unsubtle idiots he knew.

Groaning, he rolled back onto the bed and threw the blanket over himself. Maybe if Nico laid still for a long time, Percy would just go away?

Rather than take it as a sign to go away, Percy took it as a sign to start cheerfully talking, "Well, I'm not really a good judge, but he is pretty handsome." Nico continued to ignore him. "Is it his blond hair? Is that your type?" Now Percy was teasing him. Nico began to feel angry again. "Or is it the tan?"

"Why do you care!?" The question erupted out of Nico; he threw back the blanket enough to glare at the son of Poseidon.

"Because I want to help." Percy's answered, his tone switching from playful to solemn. "You've been through a lot. You deserve someone to have. I think he might be able to make you happy – er, happier – and if he doesn't, me and Jason will beat him up!"

Somehow, despite only having sisters his entire life, Nico found himself with two overbearing brothers.

"I can handle this on my own, Percy." Nico huffed from under the blankets, but his anger was abated.

"Ooh, you're handling it?" Percy perched his elbows on the edge of the bed and tucked his chin onto his knuckles. "How so? Are you going to ask him out?"

"Argh!" Nico whined, before yanking the blankets back up over his head. "Go away, Percy! I'm tired, I need to sleep!" There was no way that Nico was going to discuss his personal relationship details with Percy; especially not when Percy had a huge, shit-eating grin on his face.

Laughing, Percy didn't say anything else for a couple of long seconds. Nico thought that the other demigod might be considering leaving, but alas, it wasn't so.

"Nico..." Percy said curiously, his voice unusually serious, "Has anyone ever given you the birds and bees talk?"

The infirmary started to rumble again, and cracks formed in the laminate flooring around Nico's bed.

"JACKSON, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY PATIENT?" Will came flying past the curtains, his stethoscope wielded like a weapon.

Percy let out a yelp. "Nothing! I didn't do anything! Uhh... I'm-going-to-go-now-okay-bye!" Without further ado, Percy quickly side stepped Will and raced out of the infirmary.

With Percy gone, Nico relaxed and the rumbling stopped. The Ghost King would rather die and spend an eternity in the the fields of Asphodel with the rest of the hopeless ghosts than have Percy talk to him about the birds and the bees.

The blanket was yanked down gently from Nico's head. A pair of blue eyes peered down at him.

Nico stubbornly met Will's gaze. "Is there a reason you keep trying to summon the underworld into my infirmary?" Will asked, sounding more amused then he should have. After all, Nico did sort of ruin the floor – he didn't even need to look at it. He could _feel _the cracks that he had made.

"It was an accident." Nico managed to say.

"Accident? How do you accidentally shake an entire building?"

A good response didn't come to Nico. Instead, he just gave his shoulders a small shrug.

Will laughed. "You constantly surprise me, Nico. Okay, well, at least now I can do a check-up with you. You've slept through the better part of two days. Sit up for me, please?"

It was as Nico was sitting up that he realized how unattractive his hospital gown was. Until this moment, he hadn't really cared that he was wearing a plain blue, baggy hospital shirt with matching baggy, draw-string pants... but now with Will staring down at him, Nico found himself much more self-conscious. Caught up in his worries, Nico forgot about the injury to his shoulder until he tried to lean back on his arms.

Pain shoot through his shoulder, causing Nico to hiss and curl forward. Almost immediately, Will's hands were on his shoulder. "What the – Nico, your shoulder was almost healed earlier today! How'd you fracture it again!?" Without waiting for an answer, Will dug into his pocket and pulled out a sandwich baggy with squares of ambrosia.

Nico let Will feed him one of the squares. "Thanks." He muttered shyly, after he swallowed the delicious, magical medicine. The taste of excellent Italian pizza lingered in his mouth.

"Yea, well, be more careful." Will said with a sigh, before running a hand through his messy blond hair in way that was almost sexual (_Hot damn,_ Nico thought as he watched). Then, Will leaned over and lightly grasped Nico's arm. Electricity raced down Nico's spine.

Physical contact usually made Nico very uncomfortable... but Will was in his own special category. His hands were pleasantly warm on Nico's olive skin.

"145 over 86, 116 BMP. High, again." Will murmured quietly, his blue eyes focused on where he was holding Nico's arm.

Nico's curiosity got the better of him. "Shouldn't you use, like, a blood cuff?"

Will grinned. "Don't need to. It's one of my son-of-Apollo skills. I can easily feel both blood pressure and heart rate." He explained pleasantly.

Then suddenly, Will's expression changed: his brows furrowed in thought as he turned his gaze to Nico's face. Blinking, Nico was about to ask what was wrong when one of Will's hands let go of his arm and migrated to Nico's chin.

Heart pounding in his chest, Nico found his head being tilted upwards, towards Will's. Will was leaning forward, his face close enough for Nico to see the lighter and darker flecks of blue in his eyes. There was a red tint to Will's cheeks.

All thought left Nico.

"138 BMP." A cocky smile appeared on Will's, before he dropped his hands to his side and straightened up. "I think that's enough of a check-up for now... I've got some other patients that I need to check in on."

Nico felt shell-shocked. He had never felt a yearning like that before. It had felt like every fiber of himself wanted Will to close the distance between their lips. Will hadn't, though. "But..." Nico whimpered softly as he watched Will turn and saunter out.

Before Nico could really process what happened, loud whispers reached his ears.

"_What the hell, Will!_" The whisper's voice was recognizable: Cecil's whisper was only slightly dampened by the curtains sanctioning Nico off from the rest of the infirmary.

"Holy Hades!" Will shouted, before his voice dropped to a similar loud whisper. "_Why do you guys keep spying on me!?_"

"_More importantly, what's wrong with you!?_" Cecil replied.

"_I don't know what you guys are-_" A muffled smacking sound interrupted Will's reply. "_Ow!_" Will hissed, "_Geez, Lou Ellen, w__hat'd __you punch me for?_"

"_Don't you lie to us! That was a golden opportunity! What are you thinking!?_" Lou Ellen's voice whispered fiercely.

"_Not that it's any of your business, but how about you guys just trust me? I know what I'm doing._" Will snapped back.

There was a pause in the whispers. Nico took this moment to sink back into the bed and use the blanket to cover his burning cheeks.

Cecil replied something, but this time he spoke much calmer and Nico didn't catch it.

"_Obviously._" Will's whisper was calmer too, and Nico only heard it because was (admittedly) straining to hear. "_Let's talk about this outside, okay?_"

It was only after the door to the infirmary clicked shut did Nico let out a long breath. His stomach was doing nervous flips. Nico wasn't sure what to think about what he'd heard or what had just happened. Honestly, it was easier to try not to think about it. Gulping nervously, Nico buried deeper into the hospital blanket and shut his eyes.

Eventually, Nico drifted to sleep.

He dreamed of Will Solace.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTES:<strong>

This chapter ended up longer then the last. Hope yall enjoyed!

Am I the only one who likes to imagine that Percy and Jason are BBFs (best bros forever)?

Some small edits to the end were made a few hours after I published this originally.


	3. Nico Ignores Fireworks

Nico's dreams paralleled reality up to a point. He was still in the infirmary, sitting up in the gurney bed, while Will gently cupped his chin. A devious grin decorated Will's handsome face. Slowly, Will leaned down. However, in Nico's dream, Will did not stop a few inches away.

Warm lips pressed into Nico's. The butterflies within his stomach started to go crazy.

Shutting his eyes, Nico let himself melt into the kiss. One of Will's hands wrapped around the back of Nico's head, tangling with his dark hair. Will's lips were everything Nico had ever dreamed about: soft, gentle, wonderful. Their first kiss was sweet and sensual. But need began to build up within Nico; he grabbed at Will's shirt and pulled him closer, wanting more.

The two boys fell back onto the gurney, both sets of hands wandering as their mouths worked feverishly together. Will's tongue sneaked into Nico's mouth, causing the younger boy to moan. Will chuckled, clearly pleased at the response he'd got. Nico wasn't about to let him win, though. Arching upward, Nico pressed his body into Will's.

Will groaned with pleasure. Nico grinned into the kiss, satisfied.

Nico was in the middle of letting his hands wander south on Will when a voice cut through his dreams.

"Should I jealous of that pillow?"

Blinking sleep out of his eyes, Nico found himself staring into his pillow. Somehow, his pillow had migrated from under his head to in between his arms. There was also a large wet spot on the pillow across from Nico's mouth.

Embarrassment crashed down on Nico. "Oh gods." He hissed, shoving the pillow off the bed. Will, who was standing on the other side, started laughing.

"It looks like you had a good sleep?" Will teased with a big grin.

"Shut up, Will." Nico snapped with annoyance, crossing his arms as he sat up. He was furious at himself that he'd made out with his own damned pillow in his sleep. His cheeks were red as he tried to glare at the demigod that had been the star of his dreams.

His petulance didn't seem to affect the peppy son of Apollo. "But if I shut up, I can't tell you about how I'll be checking you out later today. Checking you out of the infirmary, that is." Pausing, Will leaned towards Nico and clarified mischievously, "Not that I won't be doing the other sort of checking you out."

Nico gaped as heat rushed to his face.

Nico knew that Will liked him. Will knew that Nico knew that. And, based on Will's heart rate _experiment_ yesterday, Nico was pretty sure Will knew that Nico liked him too.

It only made sense that Will was flirting so openly with Nico. However, flirting was an entirely new thing to Nico, and while he didn't dislike it, he didn't know how or if he should reply. The fact that Will had just caught him sucking on his pillow made him even more unsure.

"Y-yea, well, okay then!" Was what Nico managed to splutter out. He was trying to sound fierce, but his voice cracked at the end.

"Okay then." Will repeated, his eyes glittering with amusement.

And that's how the two began a day of lopsided flirting. In between checking on his other patients, Will kept swinging by Nico's bedside. Sometimes he would just make smalltalk, while other times he'd jump right to cheesy lines. One time when he passed by Nico's bed, he stopped and asked the other boy, "Did it hurt when you feel from Heaven?" Before Nico could chastise Will for being so cheesy (and point out that there was no floating Heaven in Greek mythology), the healer was off again, heading to his next patient.

It was almost dizzying to Nico. While he had crushes on guys before, he had never expected to have his feelings returned. No, he never imagined himself on the receiving end of flirtation. Now that he was, Nico was disoriented. By default, he snapped, growled, and rolled his eyes at most of what Will's said. But Will never seemed to mind. It was sort of like he could see right through Nico's grumpy act.

The infirmary grew quieter as the day progressed. Finally, right as the sun was vanishing into the horizon, Nico found himself as the only patient in the infirmary.

Will pushed aside the curtain and sauntered over to Nico's bedside. "Ready to get out of here?" The healer asked.

Nico nodded and huffed, "Yes. It'll be nice to have a break from you."

Clasping a hand over his heart, Will pretended to be emotionally injured by the comment. "Ow, my heart. Here I thought you were enjoying being here because I was here!"

Actually, Nico had sort of enjoyed his day in the infirmary because of the handsome goof. _Like I'd tell him that. _He thought shyly. So, instead, Nico snorted "Hah!" in reply.

Chuckling, Will started to get to work with the final check-up. Nico tried not to jump as Will's hands wrapped around his arm. "Too bad you're still mine for the rest of the night." Will commented offhandedly as he paused to scribble onto his medical clipboard.

Nico blinked. "What? I thought you said you're releasing me from the infirmary?"

"I am." Will said, suddenly staring intently at Nico. He was smirking. "But tonight's the fireworks show, and you already said you'd come with me."

_The fireworks show? _Nico had completely forgotten about that. He had promised Will, over a week ago, that he'd would go. However, at the time, he had thought of it as a friend dragging him, as a friend, to the event. Now... now it sounded like a date. Nico wasn't sure if he was ready for that; the idea of a date made him exceedingly nervous. Nico's flight response kicked in automatically.

Nico spluttered out the best excuse he could come up with. "I c-can't go because... um, I have nothing to wear. All my clothes are dirty and I don't want to wear this," He waved at his hospital gown, "to the show."

Will leaned down, grabbed something below the gurney bed, and then stood back up. He dropped a canvas bag onto Nico's lap. "Got you covered." Said Will cheerfully, before giving Nico two thumbs up and turning around. "I'll be out by the door. Come find me when you're dressed."

And that's how Nico found himself, about to go on his first date, holding a bag of mystery clothes.

Gulping nervously, Nico dug into the bag. Luckily, the black jeans in his bag were his jeans. Nico sighed with relief as he tugged off the drawstring infirmary pants and switched into his own pants. However, when he reached into the bag again, the shirt he pulled out was definitely not his. Scowling, Nico stared at the shirt with confusion and annoyance.

It was a light yellow shirt, too bright for Nico's tastes. Besides that, it had a strange print of an grumpy looking brown lion. Nico glanced through the bag again. Unfortunately, Will hadn't provided any other shirts to pick from. Sighing, the Italian switched into the shirt. It was better then the baggy, blue infirmary shirt.

After putting on his shoes, Nico walked out to meet Will by the door of the infirmary. The moment that Will spotted Nico, he straightened up and giggled, "That shirt is perfect for you." Nico raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask for an explanation. He had a feeling it was some sort of stupid American pop culture thing.

"I would have preferred one of my shirts." Nico grumbled.

"Sorry." Will said, but he didn't sound like he meant it. Nico tried not to blush (unsuccessfully) when Will grabbed his hand. "Come on, we don't want to be late!"

Nico was too distracted by how well their hands fit together to argue. As ridiculous as it was, the warmth from Will's hand was sending hot chills up his arm. _We're holding hands, _Nico thought with amazement. Not only that, but Will had intertwined their fingers, _just like a couple._

There was already a crowd gathering on the hill of Camp Half Blood. Some of the campers had brought blankets, while others relaxed on the dewy grass. Nico spotted several couples cuddled up together, which only made him more nervous.

They ran into Jason at the bottom of the Hill. "Oh, hey Will, hey Nico – or should I say, Scar?" Jason laughed at his own random joke. Nico, on the other hand, hadn't a clue what on earth he was talking about. _Scar?_ _Where on earth did he get that stupid nickname from?_

Before Nico could ask, Jason's eyes reached Will and Nico's intertwined hands and he froze. A small gasp escaped the son of Zeus. His expression changing to a devious smirk, Jason asked slyly, "Come to watch the Fireworks together?"

The darkness helped hide the heat that rose to Nico's cheeks.

Calling upon his powers, Nico was about to have a skeleton emerge right from under Jason when Will politely replied, "Yep, together._ By ourselves._ See you around!" Nico's heart skipped at a beat at the fierce way that Will had said _by ourselves. _

Will dragged Nico far away from the crowd. When Will finally stopped, Nico could barely see the other campers. _Why'd he pick a spot so far away? _Nico wondered, licking his lips apprehensively.

"This looks good!" Will declared, before plopping down onto the grass. Because their hands were still intertwined, Nico found himself yanked down too.

Nico ended up sprawled on the wet grass. Frustrated by the antics of his crush, Nico let out a low growl. However, Nico's growl of annoyance was cut short when Will rolled on top of him.

"I'm not a patient guy." Will said curtly, his blue eyes fixing on Nico's. Nico suddenly found it hard to breath, and it wasn't because Will's weight on top of him. "And I've wanted to do this for a while."

It was like Nico's dream, but this time it wasn't a dream.

Will closed the space between them. Nico shut his eyes right as warm lips pressed into his. _He's kissing me. _Nico thought,_ This is my first kiss. _Every inch of Nico felt hammering in his chest, Nico worked up the courage to press into the kiss.

When the two broke apart, a few long seconds later, they both were blushing. "Whoa." Nico whispered breathlessly.

Will smiled down at him. In the night sky above Will's head, a firework exploded. The glittering lights cast a colorful glow onto his blond hair. Nico found himself captivated by the sight. "I know I invited you here to watch the show," Will growled sensually, "but I think I'd rather kiss you."

Nico didn't protest.

The fireworks crackled in the sky above them. As the rest of the campers marveled at the display, Nico and Will were too distracted to care. To them, the world disappeared, leaving only two young men in the early throes of love.

**- x -**

Hey guys! Sorry for the shortness of this ending. I had some issues writing this last chapter! :P

However, I have recently got a great idea for a new Solangelo story, so keep an eye out for that! I'll also be posting regular updates to Paradoxical Instincts over the next week. They won't be short like this, I promise!


End file.
